So much as science is an art, it is really an art of seeing and hearing nature in its most minute form in any setting, big or small. Sometimes nature gives us clues in the many meticulous observations noted by scientists. Other times, the absence of any expected phenomenon can be just as enlightening to the researcher.

What usually comes to mind when we think about DNA is this thin strand of molecules with which the granite framework of life is clothed, but it is the main event to us. The story of DNA naturally appeals to the imagination; decades of research crack open an ages old code giving us the ability to regulate genetic disorders and destabilize tumor cells is a rare opportunity, to say the least. What has added to the level of wonder are new insights that are revealing, for the first time, exactly how drug resistance develops in targeted therapies, the signaling pathways involved in gene regulation, and other fundamental insights that shed light into the pathogenesis of cancer.

In 2012, 8.2 million people died of cancer â€“ an estimated 14.6% of all deaths worldwide. The number of cancer diagnoses globally is projected to increase 57% (approximately 8 million new cases) between now and 2030, influenced in part by an aging population. That same year, in 2012, the World Health Organization announced cancer had officially replaced heart disease as the primary cause of death in many developed and developing countries worldwide (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/). This fact is fueling increased demand for research and public health campaigns to fight cancer both here at home and abroad. This article probes the discoveries leading up to the invention of whole-genome sequencing used widely today.